Archive for the ‘The Band’ Category

So over the last week, there’s been a little bit of news here and there, thought I’d provide a summary.

Two weekends ago, Beck sold tickets on Saturday morning to a show here in LA Monday night. It was at his usual pre-tour warmup club, The Echo (he’s done this 3-4 times in the last few years). On Monday afternoon, the show was cancelled, citing scheduling conflicts. Also there were unsubstantiated rumors about that Beck was unhappy that there were scalpers scalping the tickets for obscene amounts. Either way, show didn’t happen.

Then last night, Beck and his new band finally played The Echo. There was not very much advance notice to fans, tickets weren’t sold. The LA Times, after the fact, called it “invitation-only.” They played a bunch of hits, and 4 of the new songs. I’ll put more on the show on Hijacked Flavors when I get a chance.

Beck’s new band is guitarist (Jessica Dobson (who makes music as Deep Sea Driver), Bram Inscore on bass, Scott McPherson on drums (who played with Elliott Smith), and Brian LeBarton is back on keys (until Wounded Cougar takes off again). Welcome to the new band members!

The album, by the way, is thus:

1. Orphans (with Cat Power)
2. Gamma Ray
3. Chemtrails (listen to it on beck.com!)
4. Modern Guilt (watch Beck play it live at the Echo last night here!)
5. Youthless (also the name of an old poetry zine Beck made as a kid)
6. Walls (with Cat Power)
7. Replica (apparently drum-n-bass-y)
8. Souls Of A Man
9. Profanity Prayers
10. Volcano

Not sure what happened to the song “Beggar’s Shoes” yet; it could be “Soles Of A Man” maybe?

Also… expect the album in about a month (or so I’m told; it could change).

1. First, and most intriguingly, Beck’s long-time musical director/bassist/friend, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, has reported that he will not be in Beck’s bad on the upcoming Modern Guilt tour. Only Brian Lebarton, the keyboardist, from the Guero/Info tours remains. If you’ve seen Beck live at all since 1996, you’ve probably seen JMJ and his fro–the only times he wasn’t in the group was on (some) of the Sea Change tours. There were 4 Sea Change tours: Beck toured alone, with the Flaming Lips, with JMJ in Australia, and then with a new band without JMJ for the summer of ’03. Also during 2005, JMJ was not in the band, but he rejoined them in 2006. JMJ’s bass mastery, leather outfist, and general bad-assness will be missed, but really, new bands = new sounds = exciting new shows.

No word yet on who else is joining. One rumor is that one of the members of Islands was asked to drum (Beck’s been a fan for a few years, they have a remix on Guerolito), but he said no. More info on all that as we find out.

2. Next, and I find this absolutely fascinating. Over on Beck’s myspace page, recently his Top 8 Friends were changed to 8 ancient Greek figures: Alexander The Great, Archimedes, Protagoras, Aristotle, Sappho, Archaenus, Socrates, and Pythagoras. And, on their myspace pages, their only friends are Beck and Tom (the Myspace guy). So clearly, Beck (or at least his marketing team) had something to do with it. But why? Is it some indication of what the album marketing will be like? Maybe someone’s just being random? Is it some play on the ancient figures with modern guilt? A quick Google search indicates that “modern guilt” may have some connection to Greek philosophy, and/or existentialism (my thoughts on Beck and existentialism are a constantly growing list, but that’s another post). Hopefully more clues about what’s behind all this is forthcoming, or maybe it’s just a bit of random nonsense, I dunno.

Here’s the setlist (songs with links point to youtube videos of the performances) posted on stewoo.net by none other than JMJ himself. Looks as if the Echoplex was indeed a warm-up and the setlist here is pretty similar.

“Oh yeah – the gig? It was fun. Getting our sea legs for the stadiums. I think we rocked, we’ll see what the press says, since their words obviously mean a lot more than what I have to say. Had a great time tho, seriously.”

Roger Joseph Manning Jr., who has played on Beck’s albums and in his touring band, remixed Beck tracks, and generally kicks ass outside of the Beck world, has been posting a series of videos giving a tour of his various equipment. He’s just posted the latest one, In the Stu-Stu-Studio Part 3. Go check them out at YouTube.

So it’s Information Week around the world.. if Beck’s new album isn’t out where you are already, it should be really soon. Nothing as fun as when a new album gets released. There’s 15 tracks on it, and depending on where you are, any number of the three bonus tracks (“Inside Out,” “Oh Menina,” and “This Girl That I Know”). Each CD comes with a DVD full of homemade videos for each song. The CD also comes with one of four sticker sets, with which you can make your own cover. Enjoy! If you want to mail a picture of your covers to this site, I guess they’ll be displayed. It seems like “Cell Phone’s Dead” and “Nausea” are going to be singles, but to what extent, I’m not sure (“real” videos were made for both) (fingers crossed for b-sides).
The band is doing a short US tour this month, with the idea of a fuller tour a bit later on. Go see them, they’re an energetic, fun, and tight band. I saw them last week and had a blast.

Looking to the future.. there obviously isn’t much talk about that yet. Beck was asked in a recent podcast/interview about that, and it sounds like he’ll be working Information for a bit.

The Manthing, Roger Joseph Manning Jr., has just released the US version of his solo debut album, The Land Of Pure Imagination. It is online at iTunes, Rhapsody and Napster, with a CD version to follow September 12.

Roger will also be performing at the International Pop Overthrow Festival at Spaceland in LA on August 8. Go check him out if you’re in the area.

Steve Moramarco (who you know from Bean and Beck’s song Steve Threw Up) is playing a solo show at Tangier Restaurant in Silverlake next Friday (July 7). Steve points out that they serve dinner and it’s a great place to take a date. Steve’s a cool guy, so you should go check him out if you’re in the area.

Also on the bill are The Kids of Widney High and The Frequency. Tangier is located at 2138 Hillhurst Ave. (between Los Feliz and Ambrose) Los Angeles CA 90028. They serve dinner there – a great place to take a date! (323) 666-8666

Steve Moramarco has played in a lot of bands over the years. His folk/punk duo HILL OF BEANS had an indie hit with “Satan, Lend Me a Dollar” which was recently featured on the Showtime series and soundtrack “Weeds.” Power pop group BEAN had the distinction of sharing a split 7″ with Beck, pre-Loser days. Then there was HORSEPOWER, his short-lived porn film soundtrack band that wrote the title tracks to such cinematic masterpieces as “Transsexual Blvd.” and “She-Male Slut.” His ten-piece “Soul Punk Swing” band THE ABE LINCOLN STORY is finally finishing a new CD. Oh yeah, his Sunset Junction bad-acid trip is forever immortalized in Beck’s “Steve Threw Up.” If that gets you up off the couch, then you are a sick person truly in need of some help. But fortunately, help is on the way for you via his thought-provoking-and-bowel-cleansing music and lyrics, which he will perform solo-style.